A hand-held symbology reader typically includes a handle and a head rigidly attached to the handle. A reading module is positioned within the head and includes an illumination source, an optical detector assembly and other electronics for the illumination, reading and decoding of a symbology. The detector assembly may include a charge couple device having a rectangular pixel array of, for example, 752 pixels by 582 pixels that creates a rectangular imaging area. The reading module is fixedly secured within the head so the rectangular imaging area has a fixed relationship to the orientation of the handle.
Typical symbologies, such as bar code, Code 1, PDF-417 and the like, are usually longer than they are tall. Similarly, the rectangular imaging area of an imaging module is longer than it is tall. This rectangular arrangement works fine if, for example, the symbology is positioned to have the same angular orientation as the imaging area. However, symbologies are often positioned on articles at angular orientations not in alignment with the rectangular imaging area when the symbology reader is held by the user in a comfortable ergonomic position. This requires the user to move the symbology reader into proper angular alignment with the symbology to be read. If proper alignment is not achieved, the symbology reader will often not read the symbology because the entire symbology is not within the imaging area. For example, when the symbology reader is held so that a longitudinal axis of the imaging area is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the symbology to be read, the beginning or ending portion of the symbology will be clipped, and the entire symbology will not be read and decoded.
This problem can be overcome by the user rotating the hand-held symbology reader until the longitudinal axis of the imaging area coincides with the longitudinal axis or the symbology to be read. Accordingly, a user of the symbology reader must adjust the angular orientation of the entire symbology reader until the rectangular imaging area encompasses and aligns with the symbology. The user's continuous angular adjustment of the symbology reader may require rotation of the user's wrist, elbow, and/or shoulder. Such physical movement by the user is time-consuming, inefficient, inefficient and fatiguing . In some situations, such angular adjustment of the symbology reader is awkward, uncomfortable and/or not possible.